Today, the UC Davis Big Bang! awards ceremony honors 19 finalist teams with $100,000 in grants. For every founder that participates in the Big Bang, several of which have been spotlighted in Comstock’s Startup of the Month column and other stories, no path forward looks the same.

“I wanted to build a platform that removed those barriers,” says Lisa M. Watts, CEO and founder of CREE8, “enabling creators to work from anywhere with the same power as an enterprise-grade studio. Truly reinventing the future of work.”

It’s a wild ride that not everyone has the access, resources, means or the mentality to stomach. Most fall short. But since 2015, some startups in the Capital Region have defied the odds, reaching remarkable heights.

With a family of six, Bob Guimarin had three “power problems”: 1) too many cords, 2) too many outages and 3) not enough ports in the van during road trips. Being a serial entrepreneur, Guimarin came up with a way to simplify power management and reduce reliance on external sources.

Back in 2019, Diana Gamzina presented her powerful amplifiers at a space agency. The feedback was direct: At about $1 million per device, they were just too expensive for real-world infrastructure. It was a hard truth, but instead of giving up, she doubled down.

As an Albanian immigrant who grew up poor, Aldi Agaj dreamed for his children to have the access and opportunities he didn’t have. When his daughter was 4, he had an idea to create an edtech company that gives kids free access to innovative games.

For agencies that provide emergency medical services, every single drug must be accounted for. But during Clive Savacool’s time as a firefighter in the Bay Area, drugs went missing from a fire station.

Nearly 2,000 miles northwest of Sacramento, Matthew Perkins rode a boat out into the Gulf of Alaska and saw nothing but endless potential for growth. “It’s kind of overwhelming how much opportunity there is,” he says. “You’re on the water, snow-capped mountains in the backdrop, you look down and see this incredible biomass growing. It’s literally the bounty of nature.”

“Using XR technology enables PowerTechs to immerse workers and students in a realistic, simulated environment where their skills can be assessed authentically,” founder Ksenia Solomatina says.

Red Line Safety, Scott Holman’s Sacramento-based startup, is enhancing firefighter safety and efficiency with wearable technology that monitors a firefighter’s location, vital signs, environmental conditions and toxic gas exposure in real time.

Peanut allergies affect around 6.1 million Americans, with cases rising as awareness has grown. A 2017 study found that peanut allergy had increased 21 percent since 2010. But what if there was a way to eliminate the genes responsible for peanut allergies?

By applying machine learning and data analytics to plant breeding, this Davis-based company aims to elevate the chickpea as a key crop to address growing food demands while also improving crop resilience, yield and nutritional value.

Getting diagnosed with epilepsy changed not only Jaya Athuluru’s life but her career path. With co-founder Simran Lallian, Athuluru developed EpiSense, a wearable device that detects irregular spikes in electrical brain activity and alerts patients and emergency contacts five minutes prior to an episode if a seizure seems imminent.

Chris Tabieros was selected as one of about three dozen detailers to restore, maintain and preserve the first presidential jet Air Force One.

When a student is struggling with a concept, the reasons may go beyond the teaching. Other factors, such as social needs and learning styles, could play a role. But educators need science to identify and diagnose these issues, which may be happening anecdotally, according to Shweta Gandhi. 

Think about a global company where each department has its own unique jargon, and employees speak different languages. To thrive, this company would need a way to keep valuable information from getting lost in translation.

For many entrepreneurs, the past few years have served as something of a litmus test. From lockdowns and layoffs to a tumultuous economy, business owners have had to take a hard look at themselves and ask: How badly do I want to do this? 

811 is the national toll-free, call-before-you-dig number. Homeowners, excavators and contractors must call 811 before excavating to have underground utility lines marked to prevent accidental damage. But the system is flawed and inefficient, according to 811spotter co-founder and CEO Marc Krichman.

Microplastics can be found everywhere, from Antarctica to Mt. Everest to breast milk. A Western Regional Winner in 2022, Soar Optics develops technology to identify these microscopic particles in water.

In 2019, CEO Maria Medrano co-founded the equity-driven startup Inspirame to repair these critical gaps in college enrollment and workforce development.

In recent years, avian influenza (or “bird flu”) has been on a rampage, wiping out wild and domestic birds, disrupting the environment, and causing a shortage of eggs and poultry meat. The Davis-based startup AgriNerds aims to help farmers to identify potential risks and protect poultry against the threat of diseased ducks.

With over 3 billion years of evolution under its belt, the natural world has a pretty long track record of creativity. Knowing this, three interdisciplinary researchers at UC Davis looked to the golden silk orb-weaver spider to develop an innovative biomaterial.

After years in the solar farm industry, Derek Chase was looking into different drone companies to handle aerial flyovers. But he found these companies couldn’t provide the information he needed, which was found on the ground, under the panels, where the wires are.

In recent months, Infinant Health has come under fire after the death of a preterm infant has been linked to its probiotic product. The FDA issued a warning in September to hospitals, advising them against administering Evivo with MCT Oil, the product which contains the live bacterium B. infantis.

As a chemist of food science, J. Bruce German was accustomed to observing the tiniest things: protein particles, bacteria, mucin layers and much more invisible to the naked eye. But nothing prepared him for his first experience in the neonatal intensive care unit at UC Davis.

The road to investing is wide and full of many different kinds of drivers that often overlap. Here is a basic guide to understanding how various investors work and what makes each one unique.

Since 2020, the global economy has been mired in uncertainty. On Oct. 5, 2023, investors and entrepreneurs convened at the Roebbelen Center @The Grounds in Roseville to address certain questions regarding business in the Capital Region.

Grown in a lab from raw materials, so-called “baby trees” could be essential for protecting not only the future of fruits and vegetables, but also people. This is the aim of Botanical Solution Inc., a Davis-based ag tech startup with global roots.

For an old electric vehicle battery, retirement doesn’t mean the end of the road. This fact was the catalyst for RePurpose Energy, a Fairfield-based startup that converts retired EV batteries into renewable energy storage systems.

Advancements in heart care tools and technology have made surgery less invasive, reducing pain, hospital stays and overall recovery time. These innovations have not only improved patient outcomes, but have also led to greater recognition of hospitals in the region as high-quality heart care centers.

Nasal and sinus problems can be tricky and costly to diagnose. Based on a hardware prototype developed at Stanford University, Scopi Medical aims to solve both problems with the first AI-enabled portable nasal endoscope for diagnosis at the point of care.

In Uganda, farmers clean maize in three traditional ways: hand sorting, winnowing and sieving. During an internship in eastern Uganda in 2018, Ismael Mayanja observed these processes and believed there had to be a better method.

Founded in 2020, Biosense is based on technology with development led by Luis Bojorquez, founder and CSO. Bojorquez specializes in combining tiny natural substances (e.g. proteins) with inorganic materials to develop novel biosensing technologies.

Will the metaverse be entirely virtual reality, which immerses users in an artificial environment, or utilize augmented reality, which superimposes computer-generated images in the real world? Will it be primarily a gaming and entertainment platform? Or a socioeconomic ecosystem? Or will it be — like many over-hyped ideas — a bust? 

“These content creators, they have thousands of products they’ve recommended over thousands of posts over a dozen platforms, but there’s no good way to manage all of those products,” Bardsley says. “It’s not that they weren’t doing affiliate links, but they weren’t paying attention to them enough to make money.”

Insect infestation affects crops worldwide, and manually monitoring food processing and storage facilities is a costly and time-intensive endeavor. SmartProbe technology aims to make pest control easier, cheaper and more effective. 

Unlike virtual reality, which immerses users in an artificial environment, augmented reality superimposes information in the real world. This information can take the form of graphics, text, audio and other sensory inputs to enhance one’s experience.

Too many employees get stuck doing tedious tasks on legacy systems that can impact job satisfaction and the bottom line. This is why Todd Michaud launched HuLoop Automation, a Sacramento-based AI-powered solution to transform the way work gets done.

Optimized Foods, a Davis-based food tech startup, has created a new kind of caviar that is sustainable, nutritious and, most notably, fish-free.

Using Internet-of-Things devices and sensors, the Sacramento-based startup analyzes real-time plant data to monitor the health and performance of crops and water soil saturation.

For athletes, consistency can lead to greatness. Performance data can help get them there. The sports technology startup Core Impact offers a targeted solution through its patent-pending wearable technology.

It takes about five years for a cocoa tree to grow and start producing cocoa beans. But Alan Perlstein, who spent the last 20 years in cellular agriculture and pharmaceuticals, had an idea: Why not bypass the tree and just grow the bean?

EV Life was created to help make the cost of an electric vehicle equal to or less than a car that runs on gas. The startup’s founder and co-CEO explains how his business works with potential EV buyers in three phases.

With her Davis-based startup, CEO Liz Tang wants to remedy the problem of people with medical conditions not having immediate access to the medical devices that may save their lives.

Robots may not possess empathy, but they provide precision and consistency that’s hard for even the most highly trained health professionals to replicate. Can AI-informed technologies hit the medical mainstream?

Robodoc co-creator Dr. William Bargar talks with Comstock’s about the legacy of Robodoc.

VestLife, founded by a special needs attorney, enables parents of children with developmental disabilities to organize, manage and instantly access their child’s key disability information via one secure web app.

While repurposing old warehouses for new use comes with technical and financial challenges, it also presents great benefits, and is one way to build green and sustainable.

Breast milk has antibiotic-like health benefits? It sure does. Matrubials, a startup out of UC Davis, is developing products that use breast milk components to treat bacterial infections.  

Savvy advertising won’t help a business if its core values aren’t consistent on every level. In today’s marketing landscape, authentic messaging aimed toward building trust and engagement is critical.